Day: August 10, 2018

‘The BJP wants to find an excuse to polarise people.’ ‘Whatever rights J&K has got from the Constitution of India, they want to snatch it.’ ‘By doing so, they are harming J&K as well as India.’ A Delhi-based NGO, We The Citizens, and a few individuals recently filed pleas in the Supreme Court challenging the Constitutional validity of Article 35A of the Constitution, which gives special rights and privileges to the people of Jammu and Kashmir. At the same time, several interlocutory petitions have been filed in support of Article 35A by…

In a surprising move ahead of the assembly elections in Rajasthan, Vasundhara Raje led Rajasthan government has decided to rename eight villages, which had Muslim names. For instance, the name of a village known as ‘Miyan ka Bara’ in Barmer district has now been changed to ‘Mahesh Nagar’. To justify the move, the state government has explained that the change in the names of villages is done due to Hindu population residing in those villages and hence should have Hindu names. Another reason is that renaming the villages will boost…

A cloudburst on Wednesday night wreaked a havoc in several villages of Leh district of the Ladakh region. According to reports, the cloudburst caused extensive damage in Saboo, Shey Stakmo and Stakna villages of Leh district. Houses, link roads, irrigation canal and several vehicles were destroyed. However, there was no report of any loss of human life. Sources said the maximum damage was caused at Saboo village, about 10 km from Leh town. “Fields and an irrigation canal were affected by the cloudburst in Stakna village. The link road from…

The character of insurgency in Kashmir is rapidly changing with the induction of local youth who are less trained and poorly equipped than their predecessors but come with more good educational backgrounds. The new militants are locally trained and poorly equipped and none of them has undergone the rigorous guerrilla training or gained expertise in firing assault rifles and bomb-making – which their predecessors did. The distinction that draws the new militants apart, however, is their educational background. The new militants include PhDs, MPhils, MBAs, post-graduates and graduates. Khurshid Ahmad…

The rainwater that flooded the streets on Tuesday morning when a heavy downpour brought chaos and disorder to the summer capital made one thing emphatically clear: that the city sorely lacks a drainage system. And what will surely make matters worse for the residents of the city is the news that the state government has put the Rs 132 crore drainage project begun a decade back on the back burner. It was in 2008, the state government awarded the contract for developing drainage system to central public sector undertaking, National…

In the run up to commencement of night flights at Srinagar airport, the authorities on Thursday conducted its test. Director Srinagar International Airport Akash Deep Mathur said they would take off a test flight. “Around 8 pm the IAF (Indian Air Force) will conduct a trial run of the night flight. And Go Air airline is operating its first commercial night flight to Srinagar,” he said. Mathur said currently the last flight from the Srinagar International Airport takes off at 5.45 pm. “Once night flying operations begin, this will be…

The rightwing Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Thursday said Article 35-A should be scrapped to permanently settle the West Pakistan refugees in the State. Addressing a news conference at BJP headquarters in Jammu, State BJP chief spokesperson Sunil Sethi said West Pakistan refugees were awaiting settlement for the past 70 years and BJP would continue to fight for their rights. “West Pakistan refugees should have voting rights like others in the State. They will study in schools and universities in Jammu and will also get jobs there. If people of Jammu…

When the petition challenging Article 35A comes up for hearing in the Supreme Court, the three-judge bench will take a call on whether the constitutional provision, which has withstood the test of the time, should be referred to a Constitution bench. During the previous hearing on August 6, Chief Justice of India Deepak Mishra observed that Article 35A has been there since 1954. “Article 35A didn’t come in the Constitution in a day. We cannot hear it in a day. This will be argued,” the CJI had said. Senior advocate…

As the annual Amarnath yatra enters to its last phase, the political activities about government formation in the state have picked up momentum with rightwing BJP national general secretary Ram Madhav holds series of meetings with party leaders and ally Sajjad Lone. Madhav held a two hour marathon meeting at Srinagar with party’s senior leaders. The meeting was attended by former Deputy Chief Minster Kavinder Gupta and senior leaders Sat Sharma, Sunil Sharma, Rajiv Jasrotia, Bali Bhagat and others. Sources said the BJP leaders discussed various options on government formation…